Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Woman jailed after 11th false rape claim in a decade

Elizabeth Jones, 22, was sentenced to 16 months in prison after she lied that a man raped her because she "did not like him." The man was arrested, taken into custody, and questioned for nine hours. CCTV of the house in which Jones claimed to have been attacked did not support her story. Contrary to her tale, it did not show her being forcibly taken there. Jones admitted to one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The story is reported here.

This was Jones' eleventh false rape claim in a decade. She made her first complaint in 2004 when she was just 13. In 2009 she was given a ten month detention and training order for a similar offence. Between 2005 and 2007 she had made eight other allegations, which police investigated, but she was never charged.

Judge Derwin Hope said her offences had caused a "terrible emotional experience" to her alledged attacker. But he also said it struck at the heart of the criminal justice system. Megan Topliss, defending, said her client had endured a disturbed childhood and had been left traumatised after being taken into care.

Jones is the latest in a long line of serial rape accusers in recent years. The following are a few examples -- the proverbial tip of the iceberg:●Jayne Stuart made eight false rape claims but apparently never served a day behind bars. Four of the men were acquitted in trials, and each of her victims suffered a terrible stigma. After her latest false claim, "Judge Peter Bowers said it was unfortunate that there was no anonymity for the men."●Serial false accuserEmily Riker made four false rape claims, three in 2010 alone.●Afour-time serial false accuser targeted British men vacationing on the island of Kos. British newspapers wouldn't even print her name.●Aserial false accusertried to destroy a man for not giving her a beer.●Heather Brenner falsely accused a number of men of rape, including her husband.●Michaela Brittonmade a wide variety of bizarre allegations, including rape, against a number of individuals.●A serial false accuser falsely accused David Jansenin a widely publicized case: a pizza deliveryman stopped by his Mr. Jansen's remote cabin in mountains and saw a woman tied up on the couch mouthing, "Call 911." It turns out that the woman (1) enjoyed bondage, and (2) had a history of filing false rape claims.●Kelly Walsh made up at least two claims of assault against different men.●John Grenier sat in jail for 74 days despite evidence that his accuser had a lengthy history of making false rape claims as shown by at least a half dozen earlier police re­ports.

●A man in his 40s was jailed for one year following his conviction for sexually assault a 13-year-old. His name was cleared only after evidence surfaced that the 13-year-old had previously made up false rape allegations – one just months after those made against the man.

●A man convicted of raping a 46-year-old woman spent nearly four years in prison and was freed after his accuser admitted in court that, not long that alleged rape, she falsely accused another man of a similar crime under similar circumstances. The woman said she made up the the false claim that she was forced to have sex so that her son wouldn't think poorly of her. The incident occurred the same night the woman's son's roommate tried to end his sexual affair with the woman.

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Every civilized society must strive to eradicate heinous criminality by punishing offenders, but it also must insure that the innocent aren't punished with them. The latter concern typically is absent from the public discourse. Accusations of serious criminality, especially alleged sexual wrongdoing, are often their own convictions in the high court of public opinion because the stigma is so severe, and because definitively proving innocence in a disputed sex case often is impossible. This blog highlights the injustices suffered by persons wrongly accused of serious criminality.